Moody Foods Calming Carbohydrates

You may not think you’re in the mood for a diet, but experts say your diet can put you in a mood…

Tension is tough to deal with. Some people resort to strong prescription medications to help them cope. Help may be as close as your refrigerator. What you eat can have a dramatic impact on your state of mind.

Are you feeling a bit tense today? Anxious, irritable? Almost 90 percent of us report feeling highly stressed at least once or twice a week, while 25 percent of us are seriously pressured on a daily basis.

Sherrie owns a travel agency that specializes in booking cruises, but no one there is cruising along. Travel scheduling is stressful work.

Sherrie, Business Owner:
“Whenever you’re doing someone’s vacation — the worst thing you can do is mess up. You have to make sure everything is exactly as it should be.”

There are ways to bust the stress. WHAT we eat can be one solution to consider because foods can actually turn our moods around.

There have been several studies showing that carbohydrate foods: sweet, or starchy carbohydrates can, by affecting a brain chemical, change one’s mood.”

The calming chemical in our brain is called serotonin. Carbohydrate-rich foods can increase the level of serotonin making us feel less depressed, less angry, less irritable and more relaxed, more calm and more focused.

One of the best calming foods is a potato, because a potato when digested seems to hit the blood stream with a big jolt and really promotes the increase of brain serotonin.

Since you can’t always carry a potato with you, the easiest sources are fat-free cookies, candy corn, jelly beans and candy without chocolate. It’s also important to plan when you’re going to eat a food that will make you calm. Other suggested foods that can calm you down are crackers, rice cakes, bagels, pretzels and popcorn.